Preformed Ponds – Rigid Pond Liners

13/07/2011

These ponds are pre-cast ‘finished’ ponds – ie, three dimensional ponds not sheet linings. They are usually manufactured out of HDPE. These ponds take away the problem of designing the shape of your pond as they come in a range of pre-cast shapes.

They will usually come complete with planting shelves – a considered design feature that saves you the challenge of digging your own.

They are much thicker than flexible pond liners which means they are less prone to puncturing – a handy fact if you expect domestic animals or wildlife such as foxes drinking/swimming in the pond.

preformed pond liners have a perfect finish as there is no danger of the pond liner creasing. No matter how carefully you lay a flexible pond liner – a flat square of fabric will never sit perfectly into a three dimensional hole, some overlap/creasing is unfortunately inevitable.

Being of thicker construction means that preformed ponds can be cleaned more riguorously so it is easier to keep this pond liner in tip-top condition.

Unfortunately, there are limitations with preformed ponds.

They are of fixed design so your choice of shape is limited to the manufacturers imagination.

Preformed ponds are usually limited in dimension and of shallow depth. Typically, a preformed pond will be less than 2 feet deep (60cm) and if positioned in a sunny position you may find control of green water a problem. However, there are now stunning pre-formed ponds in fibreglass that are absolutely huge (3.6 x 2.4m). We can order these in from a company called Atlantis but prices can reach £1500.

Preformed pond liners are more expensive than our bestselling flexible pond liners (at least double our bestselling flexiliner pond liner and matching pond fleece underlay). They are about the same price as a rubber pond liner.

Preformed pond liners can also be tricky to fit. A top tip is to turn the pond over where you want it to be positioned then mark out the perimeter using sand. The marked out area will be a perfect guide to excavation. Unfortunately it isn’t easy getting the hole the perfect shape – all you can do is get as close as possible then back fill with sand. You will find that some pre-formed ponds are stronger than others – some will need to be buried or half buried. Often they can be supported by a wooden framework. We stock some really strong formal looking rectangular preformed ponds from Laguna which are strong enough to be self-supporting – these deck ponds look fabulous on a garden deck.